


where you go i follow

by damntrobed



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: I have nothing else to add, M/M, One Shot, they are literally soulmates trying to find each other in the infinite timelines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:54:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29770956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damntrobed/pseuds/damntrobed
Summary: how hard could it possibly be to find your soulmate throughout the infinite timelines?
Relationships: Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	where you go i follow

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in literally an hour and a half total writing time because i saw a prompt this morning when i woke up and my feral brain would not rest until i wrote this.  
> so here is what i produced instead of working on ch4 of midnight blues oops  
> be happy, be safe, be well and as always, much love to you

Abed pours over the books sprawled out in front of him. He’s tucked away in the back corner of the library, his small table only illuminated by the sunlight pouring in the window above him. 

Somewhere out there, he knows there’s a better life for him. A place that isn’t as cruel or as isolating or as cold. A place where people accept him and love him despite everything else. A place with friends, maybe more. 

He’s heard the stories of people being able to move timelines. That once every thousand years or so, someone finds a way out. If he can hold his focus together long enough and push everything else to the side, just for a minute, he thinks he can be the next to do it. He just can’t break down in the middle of it. He has to focus. 

Abed was prone to fits before his father moved him to work outside of the town square. The loud noises, the crowds, it would send Abed down a spiral that drew nothing but unwanted attention to him and his father. It was only after Abed was put in a small cottage outside of the square, his days left to rebinding books, that the fits stopped. He enjoyed the quiet. He enjoyed his space. It was only occasionally he came to the town’s library, reading to himself quietly away from the noise. No one bothered him back here. 

Suddenly a man comes barreling towards him, and as instinct Abed brings his arms up near his chest to protect himself, but the man just wraps his arms tightly around him. “My love.” he whispers in Abed’s ear. Abed squirms under the pressure, trying to wiggle himself free of the embrace. The man pulls back and Abed watches his face fall, his lip quiver. “Fuck.” he says shakily under his breath, the accent he had before dropped to something unfamiliar. “Wrong timeline.”

Abed takes a moment to look at the man in front of him. He was stocky, clearly someone who worked with his hands for multiple hours a day. His clothing would contradict that, though, based on its cleanliness. There were no stains or rips, nothing to indicate someone who’s work took place outside. His skin looked soft, and Abed remembers his hands not feeling calloused as they slid across his arms. The only thing that stood out was his ring. Sparkling silver inset with a dark green gem. Something that would surely be taken from his pocket if he ever took his eyes off of it. 

“Who are you?” Abed asks hesitantly. “What do you know about timelines?”

The man clears his throat and gestures to the empty chair across from Abed. Abed nods, and the man gently pulls the chair out, careful not to scrape it’s legs across the floor. Secretly, Abed is grateful. 

“My name is...Barnes.” he says, his face twisted in concentration as he recounted his name. The accent from before has returned, matching Abed’s. “You are Nadir, correct?”

“Yes.” Abed says warily. “Most people do not associate with me. How do you know me?”

Barnes gives him a sad smile. “It’s a long story.” 

“I have plenty of time.”

Barnes looks at him, his eyes soft. Abed tries to ignore the feeling welling in his chest at the sight of him, a feeling he’s not sure he’s ever felt before. “Can we take a walk, Nadir?”

“If we must.” Abed says, rising and gently closing the books, stacking them one onto another and binding them all together with a piece of leather, before sliding them into a leather bag he drapes across his chest. “Follow me.”

Barnes falls in step with Abed as they leave the center of the square, Abed’s pace quickening as the sounds around them grow louder. Once they are safely outside of the town, he releases his fists and lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

“I know that the loud noises upset you.” Barnes says gently. “It’s something I’ve come to learn about you. I’m sorry that life can be so difficult for you.” 

Abed looks at him, unaware of how to answer. “I appreciate your sentiment, but you don’t know me. We’ve only just met.” 

Barnes sighs. “I know.” 

“Tell me about the other timelines.” Abed says, looking back ahead at the horizon as they walk down a path. “I’m not entirely unaware. I’ve been doing research. Clearly you know more about them than I, and I’d be grateful for your insight.”

“Why have you been researching them?” Barnes asks, kicking a rock with the toe of his boot down the side of the trail. 

“I’m looking for a way out.” Abed says, and he contemplates his next words wisely. If Barnes knows about the other timelines, then he must be in a similar situation to Abed. “Magic is not well liked in our town. The only other wizard who I know of is the librarian. He lets me study in secret at the library, to hone my skills. I have difficulty, though, because I tend to fall into one of my fits when I try to execute them.” 

“Ah, your fits.” Barnes says. “I can help with those.” 

“By magic?” Abed asks. 

“No. It doesn’t require magic.” Barnes says, reaching out a hand to stop Abed. He turns him so they face each other, and he gently takes hold of Abed’s shoulders. “All it requires is patience, kindness, and acceptance. Something I sense you don’t get enough of.” 

Abed tilts his head, but clears his throat as Barnes lets go of his shoulders, and on they walk. 

—

Over the following weeks, Troy, as Abed learns to call him, teaches him about the other timelines, ensuring him that they are real. That there are worlds beyond his wildest dreams. 

“I believe in you, Abed.” he tells him one day. “We _will_ do this. Together.” 

They become incredibly close. Troy stays with Abed in his small home, crafting a second makeshift bed to place end-to-end with Abed’s own. Most nights they fall asleep with their heads touching, having dozed off during hushed conversations in the dark of the night, their hands brushing against each other, their pinkies interlaced. 

“Surely you have a family to get back to.” Abed says one day as he makes them tea. 

“My only family is you.” Troy says sadly. 

Abed implores many times about their meetings in these other timelines. What their lives are like. That is the only thing Troy refuses to tell him. 

“If I tell you, it can damage the fibers of the timeline, and make it impossible. You must go in blissfully unaware. It’s better this way.” Troy tells him one night as they lie in their beds. Their foreheads are resting against one another, and Abed’s fingers dance with Troy’s own. 

Their first kiss is hesitant, Abed’s initiation of it stunning Troy, but he melts into it quickly. For a man Abed’s only known a few weeks, he feels as if he’s known him his entire life and beyond. 

They’re chest to chest, skin to skin, when Troy tells him he’s ready, weeks after that. 

“I don’t want to go without you.” Abed whispers in the night. 

“We’ll find each other again. We always have before.” Troy presses his lips softly to Abed’s forehead. 

“I love you.” Abed breathes. 

“And I love you.” Troy responds. 

When Abed wakes up in the morning, Troy is gone. His makeshift bed has disappeared, and the only thing left of him is his ring. Abed threads it through the strap on his messenger bag, unsure if any of it will pass through with him when he completes the incantation. 

He walks outside, dark clouds swirling overhead, and stands in the middle of the hill where he and Troy had practiced before. He closes his eyes and focuses on Troy’s voice in his head, counting breaths for him, his voice soothing and calm in his ears. Thunder rolls as Abed starts muttering under his breath, feeling the energy of the earth in his fingertips. Just as he thinks he might panic, he hears Troy’s voice ring in his head. 

_I believe in you, Abed. Keep going._

He squeezes his eyes tight as he finishes the last of the spell, and he feels a surge run through him as lightning cracks. 

—

Abed opens his eyes gently as the sun beats down on him. He pats his clothes, and despite not knowing _when_ he is, he knows exactly where he is. He knows exactly what he’s here for.

Los Angeles. He’s standing on a dock, messenger bag strapped across him. He’s wearing grey dress slacks, far too warm for the sun, and a white button up shirt. From his pocket he pulls out a small box, a silver ring with a dark green gem set in the middle. He smiles as he looks up at a ship pulling into the harbor, a familiar sight dropping sails and prepping the boat for dock. 

He turns and catches sight of Abed, and by the grin that lights up his face, Abed knows he knows. 

Troy clambers down the side of the boat and runs at Abed full sprint, tackling him in a hug. 

“I’ve missed you so much.” Troy cries into his neck. 

“I’m sorry it took me so long to figure out.” Abed whispers, voice watery. He pulls back from Troy to drop down on one knee, and Troy doesn’t have to say anything as he bends down to meet Abed’s eye and kiss him forcefully, sliding the ring onto his finger. 

“I love you.” Troy laughs, holding Abed’s face in his hands. 

Abed smiles brightly back at him, reaching up to wipe away a stray tear. “And I love you.” 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


It was an accident.

Abed had been going into sensory overload, and he accidentally took himself out of the timeline. Troy watched it happen, saw the fear in Abed’s eyes as he was being pulled from their reality. He cries if he thinks too hard about the way Abed reached out for his hand, and Troy was just a second too late. An inch too far. 

Travelling through the timelines was always risky. Only if you did it intentionally did your memories stick and your powers really worked. 

Troy found Abed by accident, when they both happened to fall into the 1980’s, in the middle of Los Angeles. It just so happened that when they jumped, they landed in the same spot. No, literally. Abed fell on top of Troy only a second after Troy had hit the ground, and he apologized profusely as he helped Troy stand up, and it only took a second after that for Troy to fall in love. 

They decided to stick together, that two kids with magic had a better chance of fitting in and surviving in the timeline if they kept each other close and accountable. 

They got lucky with their cash from the future moving with them to the past, and they were able to scrape enough together to book a tiny hotel room for a month until they were able to get jobs and find a more long term place. 

Once they settled down in an apartment though, everything was going perfect. Too good to be true. Troy hadn’t expected to find his one true soulmate on his first jump. But he had, and he _loved_ Abed, everything about him. It hurt him to know how much pain and solitude he had been through in his previous jumps. 

Troy knew Abed better than anyone. He learned quickly how to help him calm down when the world around them was a bit too much, and he learned what foods Abed liked to eat, and what time he liked to go to the drive-in on the weekends and what he liked in bed. 

It wasn’t all perfect, though. In the five years they were in LA, there were plenty of bad days and weeks that happened, but any time the two of them were together they could pretend all of the bad things didn’t exist, just for a little bit. 

It had been the end of a bad day when Abed jumped. He had gotten things thrown at him on his way home from the movie theatre where he worked, and had been chased through the back alleys of Hollywood until he lost them, and when he came falling into his and Troy’s apartment it took everything in Troy to hold himself back from enveloping Abed in his arms and holding him, because even though Abed wanted him, he couldn’t stand the feeling of his own clothes as he peeled them off of his body. 

That was when it started to happen.

“Troy? Troy!” Abed cries out, his fingertips sparking with energy. 

“Abed! Abed!” Troy yells, watching him fall into a small ball of light, and when he reaches out to grab Abed’s hand he’s a second too late, and in the blink of an eye he’s gone. 

Troy stares, jaw practically on the floor, where the love of his life once stood. There’s nothing there. 

He falls to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Because how the _fuck_ is he supposed to go on? How is he supposed to go without him for the rest of his life? He balls his hands up into fists, willing the magic to his fingertips, trying to jump, but he’s crying and shaking so hard he can’t get the words out, can’t make the magic appear. He tries and he tries and he tries and every time he fails he cries harder and harder until he simply can’t breathe. Eventually he passes out from pure exhaustion, unable to make anything happen. 

In the morning, he shrugs on one of Abed’s oversized sweaters he used to wear, taking in his scent, and leaves the apartment behind, until he’s back in the alley he dropped in at. 

He knows Abed won’t remember anything. He knows that if he _does_ somehow find him, in the infinite amount of timelines in the universe, he won’t remember him. He won’t remember _Troy_. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. 

“If there’s anybody out there in the universe listening to me right now, I need your help.” his voice cracks and waivers, but he sets his jaw and keeps going. “I need to get back to Abed. I _can’t_ live this life without him.” He takes in a deep breath, and brings a hand up to wipe his eyes. “ _Please_.” he whispers, before shaking out his wrists, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

He can feel the tingle of the energy run through his body, and he squeezes his fists tight as he makes his first jump in five years.

—

It takes six jumps for Troy to find Abed the first time. On his sixth try, he winds up in the Old West. Or, it would be the Old West, if everything wasn’t somehow futuristic. It reminds him of a show from his original timeline called _Westworld_. It’s cowboys and robots, and every man for himself. 

Troy lays low, working as a barkeep in the local saloon, hearing whispers of the man they called Lone Rider. They describe him as a tall and lanky man with an aim deadlier than any other in the country. The ladies at the bar called him handsome, so did a couple of the men. Troy ignored the pit in his stomach when they all recounted their nights with him, and listened patiently. He never gives them his name, and he never asks for theirs. It’s all about one night to remember. They all said the same thing at the end - that they asked to go with them, and he’d tell them he was meant to live his life alone. 

Troy’s cleaning up the bar at the end of a long night one week when a man walks in, spurs clinking as he struts across the floor. Troy looks up and feels his breath catch. Even here and now, Abed’s the most beautiful man he’s ever seen.

“Evening.” Abed drawls, taking a seat. “Trouble you for a drink?”

“Not at all.” Troy’s own twang comes out, and he finds a clean shot glass and fills it to the brim with whiskey.

“You didn’t even ask what I wanted.” Abed says, accepting the drink hesitantly. 

“Let’s just say I have a knack for knowing what people want.” Troy says, coming off unintentionally like he’s trying to flirt. He doesn’t regret it though, when the corners of Abed’s mouth turn up as he knocks back his drink and nods his head towards the upstairs room. Troy licks his lips and follows him close behind as they go into the small bedroom. 

“Have I met you before?” Abed mouths against his neck, working the buttons undone on Troy’s shirt.

“Can’t say we have here.” Troy breathes out, bringing a hand up to Abed’s hair.

“I feel like I know you.” Abed says. “That sound crazy to you?”

“Not at all.” Troy replies, bending down to catch Abed’s lips in his own. 

“What can I call you?” Abed pulls at his bottom lip before taking his own shirt off.

“Troy.” 

“Troy. I like it.” Abed smiles, and for a moment Abed looks like Troy remembers him. Soft, and gentle around the edges. Everything but the twang in his voice matches the Abed he used to know. “You can call me Abed.”

“Abed.” Troy smiles, and he doesn’t get to think about special he is, knowing the Lone Rider's name and him knowing Troy's before Abed’s all over him, pulling him to the bed and stripping them both down.

Afterwards, Troy watches from the bed as Abed starts getting dressed again, enamored by the way the muscles move in his back. 

“Where will you be off to?” Troy swallows, not ready for him to leave just yet.

“Not sure.” Abed pauses before he responds. “I think my time here has come to an end.” 

“I reckon I don’t get the exception to join you.” Troy says sadly.

Abed turns and looks at him, and if Troy didn’t know better, he would’ve missed the way Abed’s eyes furrowed slightly in the middle. He was _sad_.

“I don’t think anyone can. It’s not easy to get where I go.”

“I know the feeling.” Troy nods, sitting up and sliding to the end of the bed. Abed leans down and cups his face, kissing him tenderly. 

“I hope I see you again someday Troy.” Abed says. “No matter how impossible it seems.”

“Me, too.” Troy whispers, and he holds his tears in until Abed’s gone. He watches out the window carefully as Abed looks around the empty town, and in a blink he’s gone in a flash of light. 

That was Troy’s cue to leave, too.

—

It only takes three more jumps to find Abed the second time. He feels like he’s in a _Sherlock Holmes_ movie, running around England looking for him. He does manage to find him, only the problem is, he’s married this time. Cold and soggy London doesn’t look good on him, and neither does the marriage. Troy runs into him by happenstance when he walks into a boxing gym, and Troy’s the only guy in the gym available to train with. 

For weeks he listens to Abed complain about his wife, about how unhappy he is and how much he wants to leave. The pair become friends, meeting frequently at the gym and at pubs, discussing the lives they wish they had. 

“You ever wonder what it’s like to be with the one person you really want to be with?” Abed asks him one day in the corner of a pub, the two huddled together in the corner with their drinks. Troy’s so close he can feel their thighs pressed against one another, neither one moving their legs away.

“Every day.” Troy answers honestly, and he can’t get over how much Abed sounds like a character he used to like back in their timeline. If Inspector Spacetime was a thing here, he’d be gunning for the job. 

Abed’s look lingers on Troy’s lips for a second too long as he looks up at him. “Forgive me if I overstep a boundary here,” Abed whispers, leaning in to speak into Troy’s ear. “But I think we might both have an opportunity if we take this upstairs.” 

“God, yes.” Troy whispers back, his body running hot as Abed runs a hand over his thigh and gives him directions, instructing him to wait fifteen minutes before asking for a key of his own from the manager behind the bar. 

Troy waits anxiously until the clock strikes the next hour, fifteen minutes from when Abed’s left. He quickly swallows the rest of his pint and hands the man some cash for a key, taking the steps three at a time. He’s rushing down the hall when he’s yanked into a bedroom by a thin hand, and Abed’s lips on his own send shivers down his spine. 

“I recognized you. The first day I saw you.” Abed breathes against his lips. “I don’t know from where. I don’t know how. But I could hear a voice in my brain telling me to go to you.” 

“I know the feeling.” Troy responds, letting the electricity of Abed’s fingertips shock him as they drag all over his body. 

“It’s like I’ve known you in another life.” Abed goes on, pulling back to look at Troy. “And yet I know I’ve never met someone with whom I’ve connected with so well.”

“It’s a funny thing.” Troy responds, looking deep into Abed’s eyes, trying to see if he’ll remember anything. 

“Yes. It is, isn’t it.” Abed grins, kissing Troy sweetly. “Like magic.”

“Just like magic.” Troy breathes out. 

In the morning, Abed’s already gone. The note he left makes Troy’s heart ache.

_Troy,_ _  
_ _I can’t say that my time in London has been well spent. Though I don’t remember much of it from before my teenage years, I know that it was spent alone, surrounded by people who never understood me. People who never tried to understand me. But you did. You knew me better than anyone I’ve ever known, and yet you only just recently entered my life._ _  
_ _You must have known what I meant when I said it was like magic. Even if you didn’t, you must know I wasn’t speaking metaphorically._ _  
_ _It’s time I leave London. For good. Somewhere out there I am going to find what I am looking for. I’m not sure where I’ll be going, or how I’m going to get there, but I hope that you’ll be there when I find it._ _  
_ _In another lifetime, you would have been mine, and I yours. I hope one day we have that._ _  
_ _Forever yours, and yours alone,_ _  
_ _Abed_

—

The next stretch before Troy forms a real connection with Abed is longer than Troy would have cared for. He caught a glimpse of Abed somewhere around the 50th jump, but it was just as he was jumping out. To know he missed him by only a minute made Troy want to give up, but he couldn’t. He keeps going until he finds himself in some medievel town, right in the middle of the country. 

The first thing Troy does is head to the library, with the intention of asking for a list of residents in the town, when he sees him.

There in the corner, a book of spells that Troy only recognizes by the faint blue glow emanating from its pages. He knows that anyone without magic couldn’t see that, but his heart swales and he doesn’t think as he runs to him, wrapping him in a hug. “My love.” he whispers.

He’s wrong. This isn’t the right place. But Abed’s learning about the magic, and he tells Troy he wants to leave. To move through the timelines.

“Intention is important.” Troy says one day while they train. “Simply wishing to jump will not suffice. You have to have a goal. Something to reach for. Moving between timelines will only be muddled and vague if you do not have the clearest intention.”

“What is your intention?” Abed asks him.

Troy swallows and looks at him with sad eyes. “I’m hoping to bring my true love back to me. I wish for it every day.”

Abed looks at him thoughtfully before giving a small nod, going back to practicing controlling his magic, keeping it contained in the palms of his hands. 

“I don’t want to go without you.” Abed whispers to him one night, their bodies flush against one another. Abed’s chest is hot against his own, his breath hitting Troy’s neck.

“We’ll find each other again. We always have before.” Troy presses his lips softly to Abed’s forehead. He can feel in his chest that _this_ time it will work. That they’ll both jump to the right place, the right time, and Abed will remember.

All he had before was a vague push to leave where he was. He never had a destination in mind, an end goal. But now he does. Troy can feel it. 

This time, he’ll be coming for Troy.

“I love you.” Abed breathes. 

“And I love you.” Troy responds. 

When Abed falls asleep, Troy slides gently out from under his arm, careful not to wake him. He works his ring off of his finger and rests it on the small table in the middle of the room, getting rid of the bed he made with a wave of his hand, before he walks outside. He stands in the middle of the hill where he practiced with Abed for months.

He closes his eyes, and he knows when he speaks it will feel like _him_ again.

“Hey, up there.” he says, chuckling quietly at the sound of his own voice, back to normal. “Thank you for helping me. I know it’s been a long time, but I think we finally did it this time.” Troy starts to tear up but shakes his head. “It’s been a long time coming. But you made it easier by helping me find him. Just do me one last favor, and I promise I’ll never ask you for another thing again.” Troy takes in a deep breath. “Let him remember. Let him remember everything. So I know that it’ll be the time that sticks. Please.” his voice waivers slightly, and he feels rain drops hit his face. “It’s the last thing I’ll ever ask from you. Okay. Thanks.” he finishes, and he starts to speak under his breath, and that familiar tingling in his fingers strikes him as he jumps for what he hopes is the last time.

—

Troy finds himself a couple of years advanced from his original timeline. He’s back in Colorado, except this time he’s getting on a boat, looking at his friends in front of Greendale Community College, and he can’t help but feel like a part of him is missing as he looks out at Jeff, Britta, Annie, and Shirley below him. He loves them, but he doesn’t love them like he loves Abed.

He doesn’t protest the sailing journey. There’s a voice in his head telling him that this will be the last thing he has to go through before it all ends up alright. Before he ends up with Abed.

So he works his ass off on this boat for three and a half years. Every day he reminds himself he’s doing it for Abed, that at the end of this he’s going to see Abed, that everything he has done, for hundreds of years, is for _Abed_.

It’s a hard three and a half years. By no means is it an easy journey, and every other day he feels like giving up. But every day that tiny voice in his head reminds him to keep pushing, to keep going, that it will all be worth it.

It’s the middle of the summer when he docks in Los Angeles, the last dock he ever has to do. He’s getting everything set when he feels someone looking at him.

When he turns around, he sees Abed down below him, the widest grin on his face he’s ever seen. That’s how he knows that Abed remembers. 

He can’t climb down the side of the ship fast enough as he sprints towards Abed, just about bringing both of them to the ground. 

“I’ve missed you so much.” Troy cries into his neck, holding Abed so tight he thinks he might break him in half. He feels wetness on his cheek that must be a mixture of both of their tears as Abed pulls him in even tighter. 

“I’m sorry it took me so long to figure out.” Abed whispers, voice watery. He pulls back from Troy to drop down on one knee, and Troy’s kiss does all of the speaking for him as he slides the ring onto his finger. Hundreds of years, so many timelines, and it’s _finally_ over. He can finally be with the love of his life. His true soulmate.

“I love you.” Troy laughs, holding Abed’s face in his hands, running his thumbs over his cheeks, making sure everything in front of him is real. 

Abed smiles brightly back at him, reaching up to wipe away a stray tear from Troy’s face with the pad of his thumb, just like he used to. “And I love you.” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> find me on damntrobed over on tumblr there were like a million other options i had for timelines to include so i'd be happy to talk about them over there :)


End file.
